Norwich furniture showroom forced to close following flood

Staff at work after pulling up the Â£6000 flooring after flooding at the Cotswold Furniture Outlet, situated behind the Cotswold store in Riverside. Lewis Allen throws the flooring into the skip. Picture: Denise Bradley

Staff at work after pulling up the £6000 flooring after flooding at the Cotswold Furniture Outlet, situated behind the Cotswold store in Riverside. Lewis Allen and Catherine Kercher mop the floors. Picture: Denise Bradley

Several inches of water seeped into the building , destroying much of the hardwood floor.

Catherine Kercher, showroom manager, said: “Water was coming in through the ceiling and walls and the stock room was flooding.

“We have an old drain hole covered up but water was still coming through.

Staff were able to save the furniture by moving it to the front of the building, which kept dry.

Staff at work after pulling up the Â£6000 flooring after flooding at the Cotswold Furniture Outlet, situated behind the Cotswold store in Riverside. Lewis Allen and Catherine Kercher mop the floors. Picture: Denise Bradley

James Birtwhistle, a Cotswold co-director, said: “We had to wave goodbye to our beautiful oak flooring which was a little upsetting, but we all know it could have been much worse.

“Thanks to the staff’s hard work and quick thinking we’ve done remarkably well to keep damage to a minimum.

“We’ve developed a really lovely customer base, many of whom have been in touch to share experiences and just generally encourage us to get things back as they were.”

An outlet section of the store is open for customers, but the main showroom will remain closed for refurbishment.

The company are hoping to be able to replace the flooring, which cost around £6,000, and reopen in the next few weeks.

Mr Birtwhistle said: “We really want to thank everyone for their support and patience while we get ourselves ship shape again.”